


Into the Storm

by sassysmith19 (sassysas19119)



Series: Our Kind [2]
Category: Big Bang (Band), EXO (Band)
Genre: A little bit of violence, AU, Animals, Animals?, BaekYeol - Freeform, Big Bang, ChanBaek - Freeform, EXO - Freeform, EXO-K, EXO-M - Freeform, Fighting, Gay, HunHan - Freeform, KaiSoo - Freeform, Kind of Wolfish, M/M, Seers, Spirit Animals, Spirits, TaoRis - Freeform, Tension, Tribe - Freeform, Violence, War, Wolves, XiuChen - Freeform, Zodiac, kind of, our kind, our kind series, sulay - Freeform, we are one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-18 01:29:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5892850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassysas19119/pseuds/sassysmith19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had forgotten. Forgotten the threat, forgotten the anger that brewed just outside of their borders, forgotten the threats they had heard over the years. They had missed the signs, ignored the warnings, and now, it was coming back to hurt them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

_The dark figure hauled himself to his feet with a groan. That hadn’t been pleasant. Not in the slightest. It was too bad the little Fox had been that weak-if he had taken time to develop his power, he might have been fun to break. Now it was just something that the dark figure would have to look into doing in his free time._

_It had been silly of him, he realized now, to take them both on alone. Not that he was weak, not that he couldn’t take them, but they were, he would admit-though unwillingly-stronger than he had anticipated._

_He began to walk, slowly, up to the top of the valley, hand clasped to his side. It wasn’t a product of the Fox’s power-no, it was solely the effect of being thrown into a cliff wall by said Fox._

_A muffled curse slipped through his lips when he felt pain shoot up his spine._ Ow. _That was going to be a bitch. Probably not going to heal anytime soon, unless he got back to the others quickly._

_Speaking of the others._

_They were going to be angry. Angry enough to kill, or even hurt him, no. But angry all the same, because it had been his job to kill the traitor, and he had failed. But the_ traitor _, he reminded himself, had not been alone, as they had anticipated. He had come with help, something they hadn’t been expecting, a detail they had failed to look into, and so he had every right to be angry with them as well._

_He had learned, over his lifetime, how to use anger to his advantage, both his own, and that of others. As he had practiced, it had become easier to turn an enemy’s anger around to attack its owner, and thus, turn the battle in his favor._

_He hadn’t used that against the traitor. The traitor wasn’t nearly as angry as the dark figure would have liked him to be. In_ that _, he had failed. He had allowed his own temper to be used against him, and that was why he had lost._

_It wouldn’t happen again. He had to finish this, once and for all._

***

Baekhyun opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the sunlight. He turned his head, and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Chanyeol’s mouth before rising to his feet, hands coming over his head in a stretch.

Across the clearing, he spotted Kai and Xiumin returning from an early patrol, Kai’s arm slung around the shorter man’s shoulders. They were laughing-presumably at something Kai had said or done, he was kind of an idiot. Behind them trailed Luhan, a scowl on his face. The other Beta _hated_ waking up early, and it made Baekhyun chuckle.

Baekhyun ran a hand through his hair, and walked towards Luhan. “Anything?”

Luhan bit back a hiss. “Nothing of note. As usual.”

Baekhyun hummed softly in the back of his throat. “Do you know when Kris is getting back from the border?”

The other Beta rolled his eyes and huffed. “ _No_ , Baekhyun, I don’t. I’m assuming he’ll come back as soon as he can after he collects the others, but I’m not him, so I wouldn’t know.”

Baekhyun raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, just asking.” He sighed softly, and then looked at Luhan. “You know what, I’ll report to Suho. You go back to sleep.”

Luhan raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you-” His voice cut off, and he shook his head. “Never mind. Thank you.”

Baekhyun nodded thoughtfully as Luhan turned and walked away.

He was tired, Baekhyun knew that. He hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries, and yet he _insisted_ on doing everything he could to help the Tribe. Baekhyun would have to talk to Sehun about that, it was getting out of hand. The more Luhan did, the less he slept, and the less he slept, the more irritable he became.

Speaking of the Tribe.

Baekhyun swiveled around to survey those around him. It was weird, having two Alphas, especially on the rare occasion that their opinions were completely different. But it was weirder still to have two Betas. In the beginning, all of Baekhyun’s instincts had screamed at him to _challenge_ Luhan, to take back what belonged to Baekhyun, and it had taken them a month to get that particular urge to settle.

Not that they didn’t fight, because they did. But that was less instinct, now, than it was just a thing that they _did_ , because Luhan was Luhan and Baekhyun was Baekhyun and they were both young and arrogant and stupid.

“What are you thinking about?”

Tao’s soft voice made Baekhyun jump about a foot in the air. “Ah, um...nothing.” Tao raised an eyebrow. “The Tribe.”

The Omega hummed in the back of his throat. “I see.” They fell silent, and Baekhyun simply watched Tao. “When’s Kris coming back?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Tao nodded slowly. “Okay.” Another silence.

Baekhyun had noticed, over the last month, that Tao was one of those people who really didn’t _talk_ much. When he did, it tended to carry a lot of weight. But even when he didn’t speak, the silence was never awkward. It was a comfortable silence, something that Baekhyun had found he enjoyed, especially being in a Tribe where everyone seemed to be talking, _all the time_.

“Baekhyun?”

“Hm?”

“I hope you have a lovely day.”

With those words, Tao turned and walked away, leaving Baekhyun alone with his thoughts.

That was another thing about Tao. He was so very, very _nice_. Every time that Baekhyun had spoken to him, he had said something along those lines. Baekhyun had thought that it would get annoying, but it really hadn’t. It was refreshing.

When Baekhyun spotted Kris coming into the clearing, he knew something was wrong. Within about two seconds, he was at the Alpha’s side. “What happened?”

“The Tribe.” A long pause, as Baekhyun tried to process what he was saying. “They’re gone.”


	2. Chapter Two

“Luhan, stop that. You’re gnawing a hole in your lip.”

The Beta growled and leaned back against Sehun, unwillingly releasing his lip from his teeth. His mate wrapped an arm around him, and murmured a soft “let it go” against his hair.

“Are you sure that’s what you saw?” Suho’s question brought them all back to the situation at hand. 

“Of course I’m _sure_ , Suho, I’m not _blind_.” Kris growled and tried to move forward, but Tao tightened his grip on the Alpha’s arm and pulled him backwards. “Would you like to see it, because I can show you, if that’s what you want.”

There was a strange bitterness behind his words, almost as if he resented having to say them. Lay rose to his feet at the same time that Chanyeol looked up at Suho. “Suho, maybe now’s not the time to be questioning his observation skills.” Suho sighed, but nodded. “Kris?” The Alpha’s head snapped up, another growl already building in his throat. “Who was it?”

Kris’ face went from angry to afraid very quickly. It was an emotion that none of them, with the exception of Tao, had _ever_ seen on his face, up until today, and knowing that their _Alpha_ , who was usually so powerful and fearless, was afraid, _terrified_ them.

Tao leaned over to nuzzle softly against Kris’ neck, and he released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. The Alpha straightened, and ran a hand through his hair, grip on Tao tightening just slightly.

“You know _exactly_ who it was, Lay.”

Luhan jerked into a sitting position, accidentally clipping Sehun’s chin with his head. “ _No_.” He pulled away from Sehun and towards Kris, a strange look on his face. “It’s can’t be _them_ , Kris.”

Kris looked at him, long and hard, before speaking. “I was not mistaken. It’s them, I know that Mark like the back of my hand.”

Luhan whined, low in his throat, and he leaned back into Sehun. Lay straightened. “Why would they do that? We’ve done _nothing_ to anger them, _nothing_.”

Baekhyun tried to catch Luhan’s eye across the cave, but the other Beta didn’t look at him. His head whipped back and forth, between Kris and Luhan, trying to gleam _some_ sort of information, but there was none.

“ _Who_?”

Sehun’s inevitable question seemed to shock them all. Suho shrugged, Baekhyun shook his head, Chanyeol looked at Lay.

The Seer pressed his lips together and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s...it’s a long story.”

Suho growled under his breath. “We have time, Lay, and this is the _Tribe_ we’re trying to protect.”

Lay nodded slowly. “I know. I’m just saying...maybe you should sit down, because we’re going to be here a while.”

***

Lay settled onto the floor beside Suho, his eyes focused on the wall. “They call themselves the _katchlari_. It’s a word of the Old Language, and it means-”

“Keepers of Blood.” Sehun's soft voice made them all jump. That hadn't been expected, obviously.

Lay looked over at Sehun, whose face had gone red. “Yes. That.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, they’re this… _group_ , and they essentially sell their services to Tribes.”

Baekhyun coughed. “Services?”

Luhan rolled his eyes. “Not like _that_ , you moron.” As the rest of the group grasped what Luhan had said, their faces began to go red. “They’re murderers for hire. If your Tribe can protect them or pay them, or both, they’ll fight-and often kill-for you.”

Baekhyun opened his mouth and then closed it. He nodded slowly, but chose not to speak, for fear of embarrassing himself again.

Lay looked pointedly at Luhan, who mouthed an apology at him before leaning back once more. “Right. Anyway, the _katchlari_. We had a run in with them a few years ago, and it wasn’t pretty. They’re all very good at wielding their spirits, and all very good warriors as well. We couldn’t manage to kill all of them. This was before Chen and Xiumin came to our territory, and the rest of the Tribe was there. We’re just lucky they left us alive.”

This time it was Tao who interrupted. “They only let us live because they had been ordered not to kill us. At least, that’s what they told me.” He shrugged.

Lay nodded, and spoke softly. “I know. I heard.”

Chanyeol cut off whatever Lay had been about to say. “And they _killed_ the rest of your Tribe?”

Lay nodded slowly. “Yes. It would appear that way.”

“But _why_?

Lay shrugged. They all fell silent for a few moments, before Tao spoke. “Someone’s hired them to do it. They don’t operate alone, we all know that.” Before anyone could ask the inevitable question, he was speaking again. “Chanyeol, is it possible that someone survived the attack?”

Chanyeol didn’t have to ask what he meant. “No. You and I both checked, there was no one around for miles and you couldn’t smell anyone. Chen and Xiumin assured me that they had killed everyone, so unless one of us is lying, it’s not possible.”

Tao bit his lip in thought. “But who else would want us dead, who else holds a grudge?”

Sehun spoke up. “Is it completely impossible that they’d attack on their own? Maybe they’re coming back to finish what they couldn’t years ago?”

Lay opened his mouth, answer ready on his lips, and then paused. “When you say it like that…”

Kris coughed. “No. They _don’t_ operate alone. There’s no reason for them to. They only thing they could possibly get out of that would be us dying, and they’d be putting themselves at a huge risk. 12 to...how many are there, 4? Those aren’t odds I can see anyone taking, especially since all of us know how to use our spirits in battle.”

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “To be fair, we did-”

“I know. But there’s a difference. All of you have spirits, and, if I remember correctly, there was only one who had a spirit at that battle, and Sehun killed him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lovely extra chapter for you all because I'll have class tomorrow and on Friday, so I probs won't post anything until Saturday at the earliest. Maybe.
> 
> Unless you people comment a bunch because that makes me happy and also inspires me.


	3. Chapter Three

If Sehun had to pick one word to describe Kai, it would be fearless. Because the Hunter was _never_ afraid, never had any fear in his heart.

Until now.

Kai had frozen in the middle of a patrol, completely stopped, as he stared at the trees in front of him, and it had taken Sehun a moment figure out why. At first he only saw the slash marks, that looked like something Chen would have left there if his spirit snapped-it had happened more often now that he had actually started to use it.

And then Sehun saw the Mark.

Lay had drawn it for them, the marking almost an arrowhead. So of course Sehun recognized it, and of _course_ he understood the fear that was thrumming underneath Kai’s skin. Because, while the Mark was blatantly obvious, they couldn’t smell anyone other than their Tribe in the air.

That was what scared Sehun the most. Not that the _katchlari_ had been there, though he recognized that as a threat, but that they had come and gone without a trace, with the exception of this Mark.

This made Kris’ fear all the more real to Sehun. If these people could get in and out of a territory without detection, there was no telling how much damage they could do to a Tribe. Sehun fought back all the unwanted images of his Tribemates-old and new-dead on the ground, that very Mark carved into them.

He put a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “Kai?” The Hunter turned to look at him, looking so very helpless in that one motion. “Come on. Let’s go back to camp. We have to tell Kris.”

He had never seen Kai look so relieved, so _happy_ to go back.

Sehun didn’t explain anything to Kyungsoo when they returned, didn’t so much as glance at Luhan, because as soon as he had given Kai back to his mate, he was walking up to Kris, and pulling him, by the arm, towards Suho.

“They were here. In our territory.”

Suho had looked confused at first, but then he had understood. “How? Where? Why didn’t we-”

“I don’t know. Kai and I saw the Mark, they carved it into a tree, but we couldn’t smell them. There was nothing. They gave us nothing to go off of, other than ‘we were here’. I can only assume they’ll come back.”

Kris inhaled sharply. “This is bad. This is very bad.”

Sehun nodded. “I know.”

The pair of Alphas looked at him. “I don’t think you do, Sehun. No offense, but you’re not exactly-”

“Not exactly what? ‘Alpha material’? Thanks.” Sehun glared at him for a brief moment before he continued speaking. “We have no way to track them, we didn’t even know they had been here until today. It’s not very hard to understand, Kris, if they can come here without our noticing, we have _no idea_ what they’re going to do, or when they’re going to do it.”

Kris didn’t respond, but he did nod. It was Suho who spoke next, slowly, as if he were thinking over every word as he said it. “We can’t stop them, can we?”

***

The camp was quiet that night. Suho and Kris stood at the head of the camp, discussing the current situation under their breaths. Baekhyun sat within whispering distance, but he remained with Chanyeol. Tao and Lay watched the Alphas, worry in their eyes.

Something was coming, they all knew that.

They didn’t know when, or where, or who, but they knew that something was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon.

“We’re sure it’s the _katchlari_?” Suho knew it was them. He wasn't asking because he doubted it, he asked only because he wanted, so very badly, for it to be a lie, for this to be some dream that he was trapped in, and in any minute would awake from.

Kris nodded. “Of course.”

Suho didn’t question it, he simply nodded. “How are we supposed to fight them, Kris? We can’t even sense them.”

“They’ll show. And when they do, we’ll kick their sorry asses, and make them regret so much as _thinking_ they could beat us.” Kris growled in his throat and clenched a fist. His free hand ran through his hair, and before he could even think about it, Tao was at his side, burying his face into Kris’ neck.

“We can do this. Sehun killed one of them in the valley, it’s three to one now.”

Kris nodded, and wrapped an arm around his mate’s waist. “I know.”

Suho cleared his throat, and glanced around, his gaze finding Chanyeol, and then Lay. Both Seers shook their heads, the fear in their eyes starting to show. They couldn’t _see_ the _katchlari_ , and it scared them.

Chanyeol rose to his feet, and, ignoring Baekhyun’s protests, approached Suho. “I can’t feel them, I can’t feel _anything_ , not even danger. It’s like someone’s blocking me, making it so I _can’t_ See.” Suho nodded slowly. “Suho!” The Alpha straightened immediately. “I can’t _See_ , neither can Lay.”

Kris got his meaning before Suho did. “Oh.” With his free hand, he motioned for Chen to come towards him. The Hunter rose to his feet and walked to Kris, understanding in his eyes even though he wasn’t quite sure what was happening.

A few words were exchanged, in their native tongue, too fast for even Suho to understand. But Lay growled from where he sat, and moved forward, far faster than any of them had expected, and stepped in between Kris and Chen. “Absolutely not. He’s not going out there alone.”

Chen put a hand on Lay’s shoulder. “Lay, it’s fine. Let me go.”

“ _No_. You’re my Tribemate-”

“And this is our _Tribe_ that’s in danger. I’ll be damned if I don’t do anything to protect them.” Lay fell silent, but his chest was heaving with anger, and he glared at Chen. “Lay, I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.”

Without another word, Chen turned away from them. He pushed past Lay, ignored Sehun's questioning glare, and stopped only to press a kiss to Xiumin's mouth before vanishing into the dark forest.


	4. Chapter Four

When he had said _fine_ , he hadn’t been imagining this situation.

“S-S-S _eunghyun_?” Chen rubbed anxiously at the back of his neck as the tall man circled him, growling low in his throat. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

That earned him a loud snarl. “You know _exactly_ why I’m here, Chen.” He came to a stop in front of his opponent. “You tried to kill my _mate_.”

Seunghyun leaned forward until his nose was inches from Chen’s. “For the record, _I_ was not the one who killed him.”

The tall man barked out a laugh. “Oh, pretty boy, you’re so much more oblivious than I remember.” He turned away from Chen, and started to walk away. “I’m sure you’ll be glad to know, Chen, that your death is going to be quick and easy. But that Fox? Oh, he’s going to get it. I’m going to make him beg for mercy, and when I’m done with him, he’ll be begging for me to kill him.”

Chen lunged towards his turned back.

Seunghyun was fast, faster than Chen remembered, and before he could even process that he had been hit, he was pinned to the ground. The tall man growled long and low at him, fingers digging into Chen’s shoulders. “You know you won’t get out of this alive. So I’m going to let you go. I’m going to let you run back to your little camp, and I’m going to let you _warn_ them, because I know that you, and all of your little friends, are going to die.”

Without another word, he pulled off of Chen, and vanished into the forest.

***

Xiumin knew something was wrong the second he spotted Chen. Without waiting for him to report to Kris and Suho, he pulled his mate into his arms, and held him there. Neither of them spoke, and neither of them moved, for a long time.

“What happened to him?”

Xiumin cast a withering look at Baekhyun, who-wisely-closed his mouth. “Chen, baby, it’s okay. It’s alright, whatever happened, it’s over now, I’m here, I’m right here for you, I promise.”

Chen burst into tears.

He clung to Xiumin, wrapped his arms around his mate’s neck, and just sobbed. The others had the good sense to pull away-because they knew, without asking, that something _awful_ had happened to Chen out there, and they weren’t ready to question it.

They were so focused on what was happening to Chen that they didn’t notice the mist starting to creep in on them, its wispy edges curling into the camp, twisting gracefully around everyone, everything. Kai reached a hand out into the mist, and then hissed. He could _feel_ the fury in it, they all could, and it was terrifying.

When Chen saw it, he only sobbed harder, and clung tighter to Xiumin. They sank to the ground, Chen in Xiumin’s lap, as the mist continued over them, the air thick with hate, anger, frustration.

Kyungsoo was the first to speak. “What happened out there?”

Chen looked towards his friend, and opened his mouth to speak. But before he could get a word out, he had broken down again, his sobs louder now than before.

Lay put a hand on Suho’s shoulder, and tugged the Alpha towards him. “Do you hear them?” Suho raised an eyebrow. “The spirits. They’re speaking to us.” Chanyeol caught his eye, and nodded, the pair sharing a significant glance. “I need to know what Chen was told out there.”

Xiumin heard that bit, and nodded. Slowly, gently, he eased a hand underneath Chen’s chin, and pushed his head up so their gazes could meet. “Chen, baby, I need you to answer one question for me, okay?”

Chen seemed to grapple with himself for a moment, the uncertainty in his frame obvious. But in the end, he nodded, slowly, eyes never once turning away from Xiumin.

“I need you to tell me what they told you.”

Chen turned then, to look at Lay. His nostrils flared, and fresh tears threatened to spill out of his eyes. “I…” He swallowed, still struggling with his thoughts. “He told me that-” His voice broke off with a sob, and Xiumin’s grip tightened on his body. “That they were going to kill us all.”

A long silence followed his statement. Everyone turned towards their respective mates in fear, the air going thick with their terror. It choked them, threatened to overwhelm them, took hold off all of their thoughts. All around Suho, he heard whispers of “I love you” and “we’re going to be okay”. When he turned to his own mate, he saw the fear that he felt in the air mirrored in Lay’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.” The Seer glanced away, but looked back when Suho continued. “No, Lay. I’m sorry that I was such an oblivious ass. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that what we have is...so much more than what I thought. I’m sorry we only got to spend a little bit of time together.”

Lay took his Alpha’s hands in his own, and cut Suho off with a kiss. “Stop that. Suho, the last few months have been the best of my life. There is no one else I would rather die with than you. You are the love of my life, and I’d rather die with you after a few months of bliss than die alone after many years of life.”

“Well, isn’t that just _touching_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I always tell you guys like "I won't be able to post until like Saturday" and then I post two chapters on Friday. Thank you teachers for not hating my writing career :)


	5. Chapter Five

Everyone in the clearing drew back as the _katchlari_ came forward. Suho stepped in front of Lay, fighting back the growl that was building in his chest. Kris pulled a trembling Tao against his side, and shifted so he hid the Omega’s body. 

One glance to either side told Suho that the rest of the Tribe was following suit. Baekhyun had risen to his feet, and Chanyeol had slid away from Suho and towards his mate. Xiumin had an arm around Chen’s waist, fingers kneading into tense muscle underneath the skin. Kai wasn’t touching Kyungsoo, but his entire body was rigid, and, from the look on his face, Suho could tell he was going to _murder_ anyone who so much as _thought_ about harming his mate.

Luhan slid in front of Sehun, ignoring the Omega’s look of pure ‘get out of my way or you are going to get hurt, you moron’.

Suho’s eyes finally returned to the group in front of him. They were dressed in all black, and their very presence seemed to darken the area. The leader didn’t so much as glance at Suho, his glare directed straight at Kris. The tall man at his shoulder-Suho _assumed_ that was his Beta, but you could never be sure-seemed to be staring at Suho’s shoulder.

Not Suho’s shoulder, the Alpha realized, but at _Lay_. Two the the newcomers’ gazes were shifting over the entire group, eyes landing on each individual for a few brief seconds before moving to the next. And the final man, his eyes were fixed on Chanyeol, a grin-no, a smirk-fixed on his lips.

All of Suho’s instincts were telling him to attack now, eliminate the threat before it could harm his Tribe. But if Kris was right-and he most likely was-then following his instincts would land him in a load of trouble. A load of dead trouble.

“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise.”

Suho stiffened at the words. He glanced towards Kris, but the other Alpha hadn’t moved, hadn’t so much as blinked, as far as Suho could tell.

He stepped forward, and the entire camp froze. There was something in the leader’s eyes, something that didn’t quite match the smirk on his face, something they could only interpret as _dangerous_. “Chen’s got himself a _real_ Tribe now, doesn’t he?”

Xiumin pressed his face into Chen’s shoulder to stifle a growl. His grip tightened on Chen’s waist. Chen didn’t look at him, his gaze didn’t move from the leader’s head, but he did place a hand on Xiumin’s back.

The leader continued forward until he was toe-to-toe with Kris. He didn’t speak to the Alpha, but rather, looked over his shoulder at Tao. “Hello, Tao.” A visible shudder ran up the Omega’s spine. “Remember me?”

“Unfortunately.”

He laughed as he backed away, the chilling sound washing over the others. “I would ask who the hell all of you are, but I, quite frankly, do not care.” The leader paused, and then looked past Luhan at Sehun. “I only care who _you_ are, little Fox.”

Sehun inhaled sharply. He glanced briefly at Kris, then Suho, and then looked back towards the leader of the newcomers. “And _why_ , exactly, is that?”

The leader hummed in the back of his throat. “I think you know, little Fox.”

“Jiyong.”

Chen’s soft voice called the leader’s attention away from Sehun. “Chen.”

“I gave the order.”

Jiyong laughed softly. “We both know he didn’t have to obey, Chen. That was his choice, and I’m going to make him regret it.”

***

Luhan was the first to move. He lunged towards Jiyong, a snarl ripping through his teeth as he allowed his spirit to take control of his mind, and lash out at his opponent. Not far behind him was Kris, eyes flashing gold as the Wolf took over his movements. A furious Baekhyun, after a brief second of hesitation, followed suit.

Jiyong’s Beta growled, the sound running deep through his chest, as Chen and Kai charged him. He met them head on, spirits clashing as Leopard and Cheetah met the Beta in battle.

Xiumin hadn’t seen the other newcomers moving until one of them hit him hard from the side. Before he could bite down on his attacker’s neck, however, the man was pulled off of him, and shoved over. Without giving their opponent time to rise to even a sitting position, Kyungsoo and Xiumin were attacking, their movements quick and efficient.

As Suho lunged for the other enemy Hunter, Sehun followed. Suho’s lion collided with the Hunter’s Panther, and they rolled to the ground, biting and grabbing at everything they could.

The enemy Seer looked the least hostile of the group. He still had that smirk on his face, even as Chanyeol and Lay prowled towards him, an angry Tao trailing just a few feet behind. “Is this as scary as your Tribe can get, Tao? Quite sad if you ask me.”

The Omega growled. “Shut _up_ , Youngbae.”

That was the last exchange of words before Lay and Chanyeol-in scary synchrony-attacked.

***

It wasn’t until Chen bit down hard on Seunghyun’s forearm that they began to have a problem. Without warning, the Beta spun, and hit Chen hard in the chest. The Hunter fell backwards onto the ground, the wind gone out of his lungs. Kai attacked again, but this time he was without Chen’s distraction, and he too was tossed backwards, as if he were merely a ragdoll.

By now he could identify the Beta’s spirit, and it terrified him. “If you’re going to kill me, then just do it.”

Seunghyun laughed softly. He walked towards Kai’s trembling form, his own spirit pushing back the Hunter’s. “I’m not going to kill you, Cheetah. I’m going to _break_ you.”

This time, when Chen lunged at his turned back, he didn’t stop him. The short Hunter somehow brought the tall man to the ground, and before long, they were fighting again, teeth and nails digging in wherever they could reach. “You’re not going to be _breaking_ anyone, Seunghyun, not when I’m done with you.”

“Oh, I’m so,” Seunghyun paused as he shoved Chen away from him, “ _terrified_ of you.”

Kai attacked this time, but Seunghyun was expecting that, and threw one arm out to hit him, square in the chest. The Hunter was forced backwards, and his head hit a tree, hard. He slid to the ground, and his eyes fell shut.

Chen snarled and pounced, allowing his spirit to take full control over his body as he attacked.

Not far from them, Xiumin had one hand wrapped around the neck of one of the Hunters, and the other caught in said Hunter’s grasp. Kyungsoo had all but attacked himself to the Hunter’s back, and had his teeth in the man’s shoulder.

They weren’t expecting it when the Hunter’s spirit hit them both at the same time. Kyungsoo was flung backwards, and hit the ground hard, but he was on his feet in about two seconds. It was Xiumin that took the hardest hit, and his hands were torn away from the Hunter. He collapsed on the ground, his vision going fuzzy.

Kyungsoo, even while he was fighting the Hunter in front of him, was trying to keep an eye on Xiumin. But it was hard, given that the Hunter didn’t seem to be phased by his attacks. “Come one, little Badger, you can hit harder than that.”

So Kyungsoo did. He focused all of his energy into one powerful punch.

While the attack did caused his attacker’s head to snap towards the side, it wasn’t the kind of snap that Kyungsoo had been hoping for.

He was on the defensive now, trying to avoid getting hit by one of his opponent’s heavier attacks. 

Kris had Jiyong on the ground not far away, one knee digging into the other Alpha’s stomach. Luhan and Baekhyun were restraining him, keeping Jiyong’s arms from getting to Kris as their spirits went to war on each other. Kris’ Wolf was beginning to tire, though he wouldn’t admit it, and if they didn’t finish Jiyong off soon, they were going to have a problem.

The Betas weren’t worried. They had seen Kris in action before, and they were both more than ready to step in if he needed their help.

Luhan growled when Jiyong’s fist caught his nose, and then the blood started to flow. He smirked at Baekhyun, and the pair of Betas snicked for a brief moment. Baekhyun bit down hard on Jiyong’s hand, and the Alpha snarled at him.

“Stop.”

The soft voice caught everyone’s attention, and they all looked up in unison.

The enemy Seer had a trembling Tao in one arm, his free hand on the Omega’s throat. “Stop or I swear on my life, I will kill him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What. The. Fuck.


	6. Chapter Six

This was one of things that Baekhyun hated about being part of a Tribe. There was so much loyalty between them all, they couldn’t stand to see another in pain.

It really wasn’t working out for them right now.

Kris was trembling beside him, eyes on his mate. Tao didn’t even have it in himself to struggle, all he could do was shake in fear of the Seer that held him.

Baekhyun simply watched as the rest of his Tribemates shifted away from their enemies. A bleeding Chen moved towards a limp Kai. Kyungsoo crawled towards Xiumin, flinching only when the Hunter he had been fighting growled at him. Both Suho and Sehun were on the ground, covered in blood, but from what Baekhyun could see of the one they had been fighting, it wasn’t all their own.

He looked at Lay and Chanyeol, both of whom had lowered themselves to the ground and were staring up at Tao.

Luhan bit back a growl when Jiyong got to his feet. He moved closer to his trembling Alpha, and put a hand on his shoulder, in what Baekhyun assumed was reassurance.

Slowly, the _katchlari_ regrouped in the middle of the clearing. Jiyong remained in the front, and his grimace quickly shifted into a smirk when he saw them all backing away. Seunghyun was on his right, eyes bright with anger and bloodlust. On his left stood Youngbae, with the shaking Omega in his arms. Behind them were the Hunters, their faces blank as they observed the turmoil around them.

“So you see, Kris.” Jiyong waited until Kris looked at him before continuing. “This is what happens when you mess with me, and when you mess with my _katchlari_. People. Get. Hurt.”

The Alpha on the ground snarled at him, and moved to lung forward, but Luhan tugged him backwards. “Kris, _no_. You know what he’ll do.”

Jiyong smirked as he turned towards Youngbae. “Luhan’s right, Kris. You _know_ I’ll kill him, and then I’ll _destroy_ your Tribe.” He took Tao’s jaw in his hand, and tugged him forward. “I don’t think Tao wants you to be the cause of so many deaths.”

The Omega growled. “I’d rather die than go along with whatever you have planned for me, Jiyong.”

Youngbae tugged him back and Tao flinched. He went still, eyes turning back towards Kris, the plea in them obvious.

“Is that so. You’d rather I kill you and your _entire_ Tribe?” Tao turned his eyes towards the ground, and Jiyong chuckled. “That’s what I thought.” He spun around, and his eyes found Sehun. “There you are, little Fox.”

Jiyong walked slowly towards Sehun, smirking again. Sehun didn’t move, didn’t do much other than look up at him, and hold his gaze. “I killed you.”

“Mm, no.” The Alpha stopped in front of him. “You tried, and that attack would have killed a _normal_ person, even a normal spirit user. But we’re hardly normal, we _katchlari_ , are we?” Sehun shook his head slowly, the fear starting to creep up on him in the back of his mind. “I’m going to do something, Fox, that I normally wouldn’t even _consider_ for pathetic scum such as yourself. But, seeing as I have nothing to do but watch you all squirm, I figure, why not go for it?”

He crouched down beside the Omega. “So listen, and listen well, little Fox. I’m going to leave you alive, I’m going to leave your _Tribe_ alive. But I’m going to be watching you, and I am going to come back, when I feel it’s time. You’re going to remember this conversation, and you’re going to be thinking about it, especially when you’re alone, aren’t you, because you won’t know I’m coming until I’m there. You are going to have to live with the thought that I am going to _destroy_ you, one day. And that, little Fox, is going to be your punishment.”

Without another word, Jiyong rose to his feet, and walked away from him. The rest of the _katchlari_ followed him, and it took the Tribe a while to process what was happening.

“No, you, you can’t take him, he’s my _mate_ -”

“I can and I will, Kris. Just as a reminder to you that you do _not_ mess with forces that are beyond your control.”

Jiyong didn’t speak again as he turned away from the Tribe, and vanished into the forest, the others following close behind. Kris broke down, his shout of “Jiyong, I am going to _murder_ you!” muffled by his broken sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this write after I wrote Chapter Five and then I forgot to post it...


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Per your requests, another chapter.

It took the combined strength of Baekhyun and Luhan to stop Kris from chasing after Jiyong. “ _Stop_ , Kris! You have to stop, they will _kill_ him if you go after them, you know how Jiyong works, you know he’ll do it, and that he won’t hesitate for even a second.”

“He’s my _mate_ , Luhan!”

“I know. I _know_ , Kris, believe me, I do. You remember what the Easterners did to Sehun? They did that in _front of me_ , and I couldn’t stop them.” Luhan took Kris’ face in his hands. “Just _listen_ to me, okay? We’ll figure this out, we always do. We’re going to get Tao back, he’s not going to die.”

“You don’t-”

“Luhan’s right, Kris.” They all fell silent. “Ignoring the fact that I never thought I would say that, we’re not going to let Tao die, we’re not going to let Jiyong kill him. We’re your Tribe, we’re not going to let anyone hurt you like that, do you understand me?” Baekhyun slowly leaned away and let Kris go, their gazes locked. “You can do this, we’re going to help. We’re not going to let you suffer on your own, I promise.”

Around them, Kris could see the others slowly getting to their feet and coming towards them. Suho had an arm around Sehun’s shoulders, Chen and Kyungsoo were supporting-more like carrying-Kai and Xiumin. Only Chanyeol and Lay hadn’t moved, and one look at them told Kris that they were going to stay where they were for a while. The pair weren’t moving, they were simply staring at each other.

“They’re searching the Spirit Realm for Tao.” Suho’s soft voice was right next to Kris’ ear, and he flinched away.

“I think we all need to go to sleep for a while.” Sehun spoke quietly, but everyone heard him. He put a hand on Luhan’s shoulder, and pulled the Beta away from the Alpha. “All of us.”

***

_Dark shadows covered the land, their inky color blocking out any semblance of light. Every once and awhile, the shadows would move, form brief shapes as Spirits fought each other in the human Realm, but they always returned to their original shapelessness._

_At the center of it all, a pair of Seers stared at each other. One, his form flickering in and out of existence, fading back into darkness briefly before surging back to life. The other, whose body remained whole, hadn’t moved as the other circled him slowly._

_“What have you_ done _?”_

_The still figure took his time to answer, inhaling softly before he spoke. “I did what I had to in order to protect my Tribe. They will always come first, I was not going to let someone kill my Alpha, kill my Tribemates, kill my_ family _.”_

_“And so you chose to punish others.”_

_The figure moved quickly, and slammed into the other. “Of_ course _I did! The people who threaten my Tribe deserve nothing less than complete and utter-”_

_“Enough.” The circling figure had vanished and reappeared behind him. “This was always your problem. You refuse to look past your Tribe, to so much as_ consider _what they might be feeling. Did you even pause to think about what you were doing to them, what you were doing to their Tribe?”_

_“No, I didn’t. Because, quite frankly, I don’t_ give a fuck _. They aren’t my Tribemates. They tried to kill my Alpha, and you expect me to be okay with that?”_

_“Revenge is never going to be the answer.”_

_They both glared at each other for a long moment. “Of course it is. You raised me to believe that this is the only way to keep the balance-”_

_“No, I didn’t. I raised you to control your emotions, and to keep the balance by forgiving what others have done to you._ Not _by threatening and harming those who,_ unintentionally _did something that pissed you off.”_

_“Nothing they did was unintentional. None of it.”_

_Another long silence followed his comment. Without speaking, both figures walked towards each other, and met in the middle, mere inches separating them. “They didn’t know.”_

_“They_ never _do, it’s my job to make sure they understand what they’ve done.”_

_“You’re wrong. You may not want to admit it, but you are, and someday, it’s going to circle back around, and you’re going to regret this.”_

***

“I thought Sehun told you to go to sleep, Kris.”

The Alpha looked up when he heard Luhan’s comment, but didn’t hold his Beta’s gaze. “You know I’m not going to be able to. Not until Tao is back, not until I’ve murdered them all.” He inhaled, and leaned backwards against the tree, eyes focused on the horizon, where the sun was just beginning to sink behind the mountains in the distance.

“Kris, listen to me. They’re not going to kill him. They’re not that stupid, they know we’ll come after him, they’re counting on it. They expect us to try and bargain for him, I’ll bet they already know what they’re going to demand. We know how they work, _you_ know how they work. We just have to turn it against them, and this victory will be ours, that much I can tell you.” Luhan came towards the Alpha in front of him, but stopped when Kris growled at him.

“How can you be so sure? You thought we could beat them when they came to our camp.”

“That’s true. I’ll admit, I made a mistake. But I didn’t realize that Youngbae could blind our Seers. We’ve never encountered something like that before.” He watched Kris for a long moment, before continuing. “Just think about it, please, and don’t do anything that you’ll regret.”

Luhan got to his feet, and walked away, but not before murmuring a soft. “And Kris? You know he wouldn’t want you to come after him.”


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

“Let me _go_!”

With a twist, Tao broke free of Youngbae’s arms, and-judging by the crack he heard when he managed to get out-broke the Seer’s wrist. But before he could get far, there was a hand on his chest, and he was shoved backwards into a tree. He grunted, but didn’t allow himself to fall, _refused_ to show that kind of weakness in front of these people.

As the leader- _Jiyong_ , he reminded himself-came forward, Tao growled. It was a sound he hadn’t been sure he _could_ make, simply because it wasn’t something he didn’t do very often.

“What do you want from me?”

Jiyong laughed. “Are you actually a moron?” He sighed softly. “Of course you are, you fucking Omega. We don’t want anything from _you_ , Tao. But your _mate_ , yes, we want something from him, and you’re the only way to get it.”

“Kris isn’t dumb enough to give you what you want.”

Jiyong raised an eyebrow. “That’s where you’re wrong. He cares about his Tribe, yes, but all of that is second to his love for you. You’re his _mate_ , he’ll do anything to make sure that you’re safe.” Tao opened his mouth to respond, but Jiyong was already speaking again. “That’s the thing about _mates_ , Tao. Their first priority isn’t themselves, it’s each _other_.”

A look of understanding crossed Tao’s face. Oh. Oh. _Oh_. _Shit_.

“Now you understand. As long as I have you, Tao, I have Kris, and thus, your _entire_ Tribe, under my thumb. I can do _whatever I want_ , and they can’t do anything about it, because they know me well enough to know that I’ll kill you if they try to stop me.” Without another word to Tao, Jiyong turned away from him, and towards the others. “Let’s go.”

Youngbae moved to grab Tao, but the Omega was already running.

***

The camp was silent, though it was approaching midday. Luhan hadn’t left Kris’ side, not for anything. Lay had given up his search of the Spirit Realm, in order to take care of his wounded Tribemates.

No one had said a word to anyone for a long time, and the silence was starting to weigh on them.

“Lay!”

Chanyeol’s panicked yelp frightened everyone out of their stupor. The Seer was on his knees, a look of pure fear clouding his face. Baekhyun looked up quickly, and then scrambled to his mate’s side. “What, Chanyeol, _what_?”

Chanyeol shook his head quickly. “I need Lay. _Now_.” 

Baekhyun nodded quickly and turned towards Kai. “Get Lay.” The Hunter nodded, and walked away quickly. “Chanyeol, it’s okay, you’re going to be okay. Lay’s coming, it’s okay.”

The Seer nodded, and wrapped his arms around his chest. Baekhyun put a hand on his shoulder, but Chanyeol flinched away. The Beta leaned backwards, worry in his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Lay stopped beside Baekhyun, confusion in his eyes. “Baekhyun?”

“I don’t know, he Saw something, I think, but he’s not talking to me.”

Lay nodded, and fell to his knees. “Chanyeol, look at me.” The younger Seer turned his eyes upwards, and Lay pressed his lips together. “What did you see?” Chanyeol shook his head, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “None of that. _Tell_ me.”

Chanyeol’s fingers tightened into fists. “I-” He bit back a sob. “It’s _Tao_.”

Lay sucked in a harsh breath. He glanced over his shoulder, where he saw that Kris had gone still, and was watching them. There was something in his eyes, something that Lay knew meant that _no one_ should bother him.

“What about Tao?”

Lay and Chanyeol’s gazes met, Chanyeol’s tortured, Lay’s sharp and critical. “I don’t _know_ , Lay. It was only a glimpse, I couldn’t make out anything solid, as soon as I tried, I was thrown out.”

“Who?”

Chanyeol blinked back his tears. “I don’t-” He inhaled sharply. “It’s not Youngbae who’s been blocking us. He has a _presence_ , something I can pick up on, but whoever this person is, I can’t _sense_ anything about them.”

Lay nodded slowly. “Okay. Okay. We can figure this out. We’ve dealt with worse, we can do this.”

“That’s the thing, Lay. We _can’t_. We are _literally_ incapable of doing anything to fight this off. We’re flying blind. We can’t go after Jiyong, we can’t see who’s been blocking us, we’re helpless, and we’re basically just waiting for someone else to make the first move, because we _can’t_.”

***

_”Were my instructions not perfectly clear?” The deep voice filled their heads, made them wince with its intensity. There was nothing to think about, nothing but the words they were hearing, and the memories of their failure. Because in their failure, they had delivered a blow to themselves, defeated their own confidence. “Did I not_ explicitly _state that I wanted him alive and unharmed?”_

_The leader of the kneeling figures finally gathered the courage to look up. “He is not as weak as we anticipated.”_

_“Then perhaps you should have anticipated better!”_

_They all fell silent, the fury rolling over all of them in waves. The kneeling figures glanced at each other, before one of them spoke, his voice rough with the effort to hold back his own anger. “How could we have guessed that he would be stronger now? We have no record of them_ ever _training their_ kaplina _, why would they start now?”_

_“I did not bring you here, in the middle of the day, to question me.”_

_Another silence._

_“I want you all to listen to me, and listen carefully, because I will_ not _tolerate another_ mistake _.” He sneered the word at them, before continuing. “You_ will _bring him to me, alive and unharmed, and you will do it_ quickly _. There will be no more excuses, no more mistakes, or so help me I will end you_ all _. Am I understood?”_

_All of the kneeling figures nodded, their muscles stiffening in fear of the angry tone, and without another word, vanished into the shadows._


	9. Chapter Nine

It had been a week. A week since Tao had been captured, a week since Kris had seen his mate, a week since Chanyeol had had his vision, and next to nothing had changed. Lay and Chanyeol were still trying to figure out what the hell his vision meant, while also trying to help put their injured Tribemates back to normal. Baekhyun and Luhan and Chen and Kai were alternating patrols, trying to keep their Tribe safe. Xiumin and Kyungsoo had both been asked-more like ordered-by Lay not to “ _fucking move until he fucking said so_ ”. Suho was trying to keep Kris sane, but it was getting harder and harder as the days went on.

Basically, their lives had become a living hell.

“And you’re _sure_ there was nothing else, nothing _whatsoever_?”

Chanyeol turned on Kai, a growl building in his chest. “ _How many fucking times_ do I have to say it, Kai? Of course I’m sure, I know what I saw, I know what I felt! I would never hide anything from the Tribe, you fucking moron, they’re my family, so stop _acting_ like that’s what I’m doing!”

Kai backed away quickly, hands raised in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry! I was just-”

“Just _what_ , Kai? Making sure? Because you, and _everyone else_ , have been doing that for the past week. If I had missed something, don’t you think I would have figured out what it was by now, because honestly, I can’t go _five fucking minutes_ without someone questioning me!”

It took all of Chanyeol’s willpower not to attack Kai right then and there, because _honestly_ , did no one in this Tribe _trust_ him anymore?

“Chanyeol, I think you need to take a break.”

This time the Seer turned on Lay. “I don’t need to take a _fucking_ -”

“No, clearly you do. You’ve been stuck here all week, I think you just need to go take a walk or something. Please. You’re going to break if you keep pushing yourself like this, and I don’t want that to happen to you. So please. Take Baekhyun with you, he’s getting on my nerves.”

The pair of Seers just stared at each other for a long moment, before Chanyeol nodded. He turned around, and caught sight of Baekhyun approaching them, Chen by his side. The Beta shared a look with Lay, and then nodded. “Come on, Chanyeol.”

The Seer cast a glare over his shoulder at Lay, before taking his mate’s hand and following him into the forest.

They had been walking for a long time before Baekhyun finally stopped and turned to him. “Alright. Talk to me.”

Chanyeol inhaled, and then nodded. “I feel so useless.” Baekhyun didn’t respond, prompting Chanyeol to continue speaking. “I can’t help the Tribe because I don’t know what to make of that vision, I can’t find Tao, I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do, and Lay keeps telling me just to leave it alone because ‘the answers will come, in time’ or whatever, but I’ve been waiting, and I just don’t _know_ how to deal with any of this, and you and Luhan and the others are always doing something useful and I’m just kind of there, and I-”

Baekhyun cut him off. “Chanyeol.” The Seer looked at Baekhyun for a long moment, before the Beta spoke again. “I need you to breath, okay? You’re not useless, you’re never going to be useless. We need you and your ability to See as much as we need Luhan and Chen and the others and I. You got us farther than we ever imagined we would get, because we know that they haven’t killed-

“But we _don’t_ know that, Baekhyun! That vision was a week ago, they could have killed him by now, you know that!”

Baekhyun pressed his lips together until Chanyeol stopped speaking. “You know you’d have felt it, we both know that.” Chanyeol nodded slowly. “Chanyeol, you’re being way too hard on yourself. You aren’t the only one who’s responsible for the Tribe, we all are. If you need help, you have to _talk_ to someone, you can’t just bottle this all up inside. We’ve _talked_ about this.”

Chanyeol nodded again, and then wrapped his arms around Baekhyun’s shoulders. “I just don’t want anyone to be disappointed in me.”

“No one is, I promise.”

***

Chen ran a hand through Xiumin’s hair, and his mate blinked his eyes open. “Hey.” His voice was rough, both from sleep and his injury. “I thought you were out on patrol.” Chen shook his head, and leaned down to press his lips to Xiumin’s forehead. “ _Chen_ , you know what Lay said-”

“Oh, screw Lay.”

Chen climbed up onto Xiumin’s lap, and sat down. His mouth moved to lock onto Xiumin’s, and whatever the older Hunter had been about to say was silenced.

“I love you, you know that, right?”

Xiumin hummed in the back of his throat as one hand came up to tangle in Chen’s hair. “And I love you.”

They were so wrapped up in each other that when Lay entered the cave, his exclamation of “What in the _actual fuck_?” wasn’t enough to pull them out of it. Only his shriek of fury caught Chen’s attention, and he almost fell off a Xiumin in his shock.

“What the _hell_ , Chen? Didn’t I specify-” The Seer silenced himself, and glared at Chen. “I’m not even going to bother, because clearly it’s not going to stop you.”

Xiumin laughed softly. “Lay, Chanyeol isn't the only one who needs a break. Maybe you and Suho should...well, you know, don’t you? You’re not an idiot.”

Lay blushed furiously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Xiumin giggled. And Xiumin giggling made Chen giggle, which only made Lay blush a brighter red. “Just _go_ , Lay!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kekekekeke


	10. Chapter Ten

It wasn’t until Lay passed out that Sehun realized that something was very, _very_ wrong.

For starters, the Seer hadn’t passed out since before the Tribes united, back when he and Chanyeol were still getting visions about the Easterners.

Suho and Luhan flew into a panic almost simultaneously. They were both crouched over Lay, examining his limp body, before Sehun could even process that yes, the Seer had indeed just passed out. It was scary, how similar they looked, faces creased with worry as they looked him over. Sehun came to stand behind Luhan, but didn’t speak, and didn’t try to help, because he knew that he would just end up in the way anyhow.

“Sehun, go get Chanyeol. _Now_.”

The Omega nodded quickly, and ran off into the woods, not even bothering to apologize when he clipped Kyungsoo’s shoulder in the process.

It wasn’t hard to find Baekhyun and Chanyeol, they hadn’t strayed very far from the main path through the forest. But what Sehun wasn’t expecting was to see Baekhyun supporting all of Chanyeol’s weight.

The other Seer had gone limp against his mate, and now the Beta was struggling to hold him up. “Sehun, help me get him back to camp. He’s Seeing something, I don’t know what, but it’s something big, and we need to see Suho now.”

Without bothering to explain, Sehun took Chanyeol’s other arm and took as much weight off of Baekhyun’s shoulders as he could. They moved quickly through the forest, towards the camp, blood roaring in Sehun’s ears. Something was happening. The Tribe was in trouble, he could guess that much.

As soon as they arrived at the camp, Baekhyun spotted Lay’s body, Suho’s panic, and the unrecognizable look on Luhan’s face. He walked towards them, and laid Chanyeol down beside the other Seer, murmuring a quick “get Kris” at Luhan before knocking the other Beta out of the way.

Luhan, instead of protesting as he normally would have, nodded, and took Sehun’s hand in his own. They walked swiftly to the cave, where Kris had been cooped up for the past week, and walked in, not bother to announce their presence. Kris knew they were there. The Omega didn’t speak when he saw Kris, but Luhan did, and he spoke _fast_. “I know you don’t want to be disturbed, but it’s the Seers. They’ve had a vision, both of them, and we’re waiting for them to wake up so we can know what it is.”

The Alpha was on his feet before Sehun even realized that he had moved. He brushed past both of them, and walked out of the cave, leaving Sehun and Luhan alone.

In the silence, Luhan looked at Sehun, long and hard. “I want you to know, Sehun-” He inhaled sharply, cutting himself off. “No matter what happens, I want you to know that I love you, and that you mean everything to me. After all this shit with Tao and Kris, I realized that we don’t always get to know when we’re going to lose what matters most to us. And being with you, even if it hasn’t been for very long, has been the absolute best thing that has happened to me. Nothing is ever going to change that. I love you.”

Sehun simply stared at Luhan for a long moment. “And I love you.” There was a long silence. “I don’t ever want to lose you again. That was the hardest, most terrible thing that I’ve ever experienced, and I never want to feel that way again. So no matter what happens, whether it’s today, or tomorrow, or in ten years, or in a hundred, I want us to be together. Forever.”

***

When Lay woke up, the first person he saw was Suho. He threw his arms around his mate’s neck, and started to cry.

That was what scared Baekhyun the most. He had never, not once, seen Lay cry, not even when he was trying to save some of his best friends from death. He was always so calm and collected, so to see him broken like this...it was terrifying. Whatever he had seen was more powerful than their Tribemates dying, that much was obvious.

Suho was whispering soothing words against his mate’s hair, but it didn’t seem to be doing much.

“Lay, sweetheart, it’s okay, you’re okay, I’m right here.”

“Get him out of my head, just make it stop, I can’t take this anymore.” Lay was sobbing hard, not trying to hold it back anymore as his fear overwhelmed him. He wasn’t speaking in clear sentences, the words tumbling out too fast, and tripping over each other.

Chanyeol’s reaction was similar, but not as overwhelming. He pulled Baekhyun up against his body, and refused to speak, arms trembling just slightly.

It took Kris about five seconds to figure out what was happening.

“They’re coming back, aren’t they?”

***

Tao’s sharp cry was the only thing that tore them all out of their little bubble. He collapsed on the ground in the middle of the camp, and then fell still, blood dripping off the top of his head.

Kris all but ran to him, a growl building in his chest. He knelt by the Omega’s side, and slowly, carefully, turned him onto his back. “Taozi?”

“Kris.” Tao’s voice was rough and broken, but there was something so very alive, so very _afraid_ , in his eyes. “Look ou-”

A powerful blast of heat and Spirit and fire sent Kris flying backwards. He skidded across the clearing, and only stopped when he collided with a tree.

The only Jiyong they had seen prior to this was a calm, arrogant Jiyong. But this Jiyong, this _Alpha_ , was beyond angry. He was positively _furious_ , his very _Spirit_ humming with his rage. No words came from his lips, but his face told the entire story, told them everything he was thinking, everything he wanted to say to them.

It was Seunghyun who spoke first, soft voice loud in the silence. “We did warn you.”

And those four words, those four, tiny, seemingly pointless words, hit them hard, shook them all to their very cores. 

Suho looked at Kris, looked at Baekhyun, looked at Kai and Kyungsoo and Chen and Xiumin. He looked at Luhan and Sehun emerging from the cave, looked at Tao, motionless and bloody on the ground, looked at Chanyeol, shoulders tense with anger, and finally, he looked at his mate.

Unspoken words passed between them, and Lay got to his feet. He turned to face Jiyong and the _katchlari_ , face set in hard resolve. “You cannot break us. You will not destroy us.”

He continued, but his words were drowned out by Suho’s thoughts as he looked once more at his Tribe. A shaking, but furious Luhan clung to a fierce and angry Sehun. Kai and Kyungsoo and Xiumin and Chen were all pressed together, shoulder to shoulder. Chanyeol and Baekhyun had shifted into kneeling positions, and Suho could feel their Spirits, thrumming behind their skin, ready to break free. Kris was getting to his feet, eyes moving from Jiyong to Tao, clearly calculating how long he would have to get to his mate.

At last, Lay’s words came back into focus as Suho turned to look at him once more.

“And we will stand, as one-” As the Seer started to waver, the others joined in

“-against the winds-” Baekhyun’s voice broke just slightly at the end.

“-the fires-” Luhan picked up where the other Beta had left off.

“-and the torment...” Chen’s soft voice surprised them all, but no one let it show. Their voices all faded, as they watched the _katchlari_ , who hadn’t moved an inch.

Suho spoke with finality. “Together, now and forever, into the storm.”

_End of Part Two_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fear not, for I see a sequel on the horizon.


End file.
